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Decentralisation of NDDC

Thursday, 15 November 2007

NIGER-DELTA PEACE COALITION
No. 50, Eboh Road,
Warri, Delta State,
Nigeria.
Tel/Fax: 053-254750
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Website: www.ndpconline.org

Date: 15-11- 2007

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua
Office of the Executive President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Aso Rock Villa,
Asokoro District,
Abuja.

Dear Sir,

DECENTRALISATION OF NDDC

It is pathetic to note that, since the inception of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which was set-up to address the deprivation and marginalization needs of the people, nothing tangible has been achieved. Rather we find people in corridors of power at the NDDC, speaking double tongues, deceiving their brothers, meting out great inhuman treatment on their own lands. The NDDC is a study case of deceit, a conception of flattery, using public funds meant for the development of the deprived Niger Delta, for the pursuance of their selfish political ambition which is not borne out of service, but out of greed. The deplorable state of the Niger Delta region was justified recently by Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

With reference to the Vanguard newspaper of Friday, November 2, 2007, concerning the report titled, "Senators want more derivation revenue for Niger-Delta", was the Senate delegation that went on a tour of the creeks of Bayelsa, Delta and Akwa Ibom states, for the purpose o f familiarizing themselves with the problems of the region. The Senators divided themselves into three groups to cover the three states in question, and the Bayelsa state group, led by Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ikweremadu, was close to tears, when they came face-to-face with the acute poverty and poor living conditions in the communities of the states. On their return to Port-Harcourt, they called for an increase in the derivation allocation to the Niger Delta, to reverse the existing situation. The president of the Senate, Senator David Mark, who led one of the teams to Delta, on his return, also promised on his part, expedited action by the Senate in reversing the decay in the region. His words: "We will legislate for peace in the Niger Delta, we shall provide for the people through appropriation. We will not be frustrated or deterred no matter the odds. We owe it to our conscience and the nation. There is no going back". But before we get carried with such words, let us look critically on the body that will invariably, be responsible to the implementation of whatever policies or appropriation the Senate will come up with, that is the NDDC.

The much talked about neglect of the Niger Delta region was supposed to be handled by the NDDC, established by the immediate former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2000, with the statutory responsibility of eliminating some of the ills chocking the life of the people of the Niger Delta area. Let us note that, huge amounts of money running into billions have been pumped into the NDDC from the time of inception till date, but yet the commission has nothing to show for it. The Senate's visit to the region justifies this fact. So, it will be a waste, if more money is channeled into NDDC without properly sorting out the problems affecting the body. Just like past governments have tried to address the neglect of the Niger Delta region with the establishment of OMPADEC, DFRI, PTF that could not achieve much, particularly OMPADEC that failed in this regard due to many factors arising from the polity. The same factors have found its way into the affairs of NDDC. The NDDC has become highly politicized that it is regarded as a conduit pipe for siphoning public funds.

It is on record that the top management staff of the NDDC who incidentally are from the Niger Delta region, had governorship ambition and thus rely on public funds to achieve these goals, deceiving our ignorant brothers and sisters that they have marching orders to address our developmental needs. We pity them because they are more ignorant than the public they strive to deceive. As far as we are concerned, they are a disgrace to themselves and retinue of followers. From our own estimation, NDDC is a failure not because the commission and its ideals are strategised to fail, but because the managers of the commission's funds are wicked, mischievous, bunch of thieves with no conscience, whose stock in trade is to circumvent the public goals for their own private aggrandizement. This attitude has left the Niger Delta region to remain perpetually stricken with abject poverty.

Similarly, at the tail of Obasanjo's reign, some oil producing states like Delta, also established their own Development commission known as Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), all for the same purpose enumerated above, to satisfy praise-singers, loyalists and so on. The total neglect of the Niger Delta region is the basis for the persistent crises that has enveloped the area, as a result of aggrieved youths who have taken it upon themselves to pour the aggression on a misplaced priority. The crises in the Niger Delta region have developed gradually to the peak of criminality, where it can be compared favourably with the Middle East crises. It has involved the killing of innocent people, hostage taking of women, children, elderly people and expatriate staff of oil companies. Life has no value here, just like the Middle East, the only difference is that, the youths have not started suicide bombing in their operations; the place has become highly militarized with clandestine activities all around. People are still going hungry in the midst of plenty and yet the NDDC has continued to exist. All we have around the Niger Delta are abandoned projects, in the name of NDDC, yet a selected few live in affluence, drive flashy cars, with well furnished offices. This has made veteran leader E.K. Clark to condemn NDDC in its entirety.

Other areas identified that should be held responsible for the neglect and deplorable state of the Niger Delta region, are the states and local government leaders, who from 1999 till date, have received enormous amounts of revenue and yet nothing to show for it in their respective states. The Senators' visits along the creeks of the Niger Delta states, mentioned earlier, said their tour around these states, was an "eye opener" to the criminal neglect that has left the areas in a pathetic state. They blamed all past and present governors and local government chairmen for not judiciously using the capital coming into the states' purse. This is very true, when one considers the various reports of alleged misappropriation of public funds by the state governors that has given the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), enough assignments to battle with on their tables. The issue of corrupt leaders is another huge topic of its own, our concern here is, what has NDDC done so far to alleviate the plight of the suffering Niger Deltans? The obvious answer is, practically nothing!

We are yet to understand the master plan of the Niger Delta, we have been waiting anxiously for meaningful developmental projects that will impact on the lives of the average Niger Deltans, we have looked at the conscious attempts of these people at the NDDC to loot public funds and only embark on projects, when they are pressured by the presidency to commission some projects. It appears the persons on the board are people without the intent and interest of their own people. We pass a vote of no confidence on the entire management team of the NDDC.

We strongly call for a change of the NDDC methods of implementing developmental policies, and we believe, this call is eminent, in the face of the likely consequence of the polity and the economy of the country. If this is not checked now, it will likely increase wave of resentments, militancy, cry of marginalization and unwanted destruction of lives, properties and oil installations. It is a cry for transformation in the scheme of things, to provide for the welfare of Niger Delta people, to stop the media hype over the perceived success of the NDDC in the face of failure, and to protect the continued interest of our dear country.

THE WAY FORWARD

Those at the helms of NDDC have not answered the real questions of development in the Niger Delta region, or better still, have no answers to it, hence, most of the contracts they delve into are not people oriented. They neglect the real core issues that are supposed to be taken care of, and go on with projects that are meant for the local government councils. Projects like painting of schools, erecting schools fence, patching of roads, boreholes, etc. We see this as a displacement of priorities, therefore, we profer the following:

NDDC must be decentralized, to be established in all oil and gas producing states, and the structure of the board, would consist of a Chief Executive / Managing Director, who will be reporting directly to the Presidency on every activities concerning the development of that state. The budget and allocations coming into each state must be according to the oil and gas production revenue accrued by such a state. Those that will make-up the board in each state must be people that are honest with a long standing repertoire of proven integrity, with a sincere passion to develop the Niger Delta area. Appointments should not be based on sweet talking orators, with exaggerated profiles.

.NDDC in each of the oil producing states should have equal powers to dispense their duties. However, their funding will be different, based on the quota each state can generate. The projects and programmes embarked upon must be people oriented projects that would be of immense benefits to the general people not a selected few. The projects so far executed, have been concentrated in villages of top men, Directors and politicians.

To checkmate this, the projects of these states NDDC should be monitored by credible third parties, individuals or organizations that have no government or political affiliation, who are independent and whose views can be relied on as unbiased. This will ensure that projects are properly executed, and it will be what the people actually need.

The Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, having had for themselves, an eye opening encounter with the heart melting, nothing to write home about, deplorable state of the Niger Delta region, should not encourage the continued existence of NDDC (as the body with the sole responsibility of eliminating the distress of the people). NDDC has not been able to justify the billions of Naira that has been pumped into it for close to seven (7) years now. Hence, we urge for the decentralization of the body to allow a closer encounter from the state level with the grassroots, where the problems are eminent.

Zik Gbemre
National Coordinator

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